1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a storage file format on a client side for supporting storage and replay of an adaptive multimedia stream provided from a server, a client apparatus using the storage file format, and a method of storing a multimedia stream in the client apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a streaming service of transmitting multimedia data via the Internet or a mobile communication network has been widely used.
A streaming service is a multimedia service enabling the playing of multimedia data without storing it in a terminal of a user. While streaming services which provide data at a fixed bit rate have been used, an adaptive streaming service with a variable bit rate depending on a network environment has been used recently. For adaptive streaming, a server side prepares media streaming data of various bit rates in advance and transmits data by changing a bit rate according to a network environment or a client's request.
The adaptive streaming service is performed by transmitting and receiving data in units of fragments called chunks between a server and a client. That is, the server divides the whole multimedia data into fragments, each in units of seconds, and transmits the fragments, and the client receives and reproduces the multimedia data in units of fragments.
The adaptive streaming service premises that a client side reproduces multimedia data provided from a service side in almost real-time excluding a time difference, such as a latency according to data communication and a buffering time of the client side for jitter compensation and multimedia data synchronization. Thus, it is difficult for the client side to store and replay multimedia data in the adaptive streaming service.